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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23368087">Thinking Bout You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnnyjakjohn/pseuds/johnnyjakjohn'>johnnyjakjohn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Euphoria (TV 2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Ethan is gay, M/M, Partying, Underage Drinking, Unrequited Crush, Vaping</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:42:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,434</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23368087</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnnyjakjohn/pseuds/johnnyjakjohn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kat and Ethan are crushing on different people.</p>
<p>AU where Ethan's gay.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ethan/Daniel, Ethan/Kat Hernandez, Kat Hernandez/Daniel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Thinking Bout You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I’m Cody from--”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait, I know this one.” It was on the tip of her tongue. “<em>Total Drama</em>!” she said, snapping her finger. The drink in her other hand nearly spilled over. Halloween was turning into one hell of a rager.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ethan grinned. “Yeah.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Pretty meta take on the reality TV genre. Who was he again?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He crushes on Gwen, the goth chick. He’s kinda a simp.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Love that.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Junior biology was promising in more ways than one for Kat and Ethan. While their husk of a teacher played slideshows of dicks and vaginas the two had begun sending texts back and forth under lab desks, hitting it off after an awkward first encounter. She’d gotten an impression of him, but wasn’t totally certain. There were a lot of maybes in the air. Maybe he was into her. Maybe he was different then other guys. Maybe he wouldn’t be like the other shitty, misogynistic boys of East Highland. </p>
<p>They did share a couple similarities. Both got internet culture, both could be more introvert than extrovert, and both, to Kat’s surprise, liked guys. She could still remember the afternoon after the whole “IncelUprising” fiasco.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He’s definitely trying to get some coochie,” BB said, pausing to take a hit. “When a guy messes up like that he’s, like, starstruck.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You think so?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I <em>know</em> so.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And yet BB, in all her infinite wisdom, turned out to be wrong. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next day he passed her a note, a collection of scribbles amounting to “What do you think about that guy over there?” He quietly pointed, his finger landing on someone in the second row. She hadn’t seen him in forever. Daniel.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait, your gay?” She slid it back, nestling it tightly under his textbook.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah I’m into dudes”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kat wasn’t one to judge. She didn’t even really care. She was just a little…..surprised. Maybe it was just her reading that first situation wrong. Maybe he was just nervous, <em>not</em> flustered. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh that’s cool”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So what do you think about him”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That thing with Daniel years ago was nice while it lasted. She didn’t hold any hard feelings---they were just kids, after all. Part of her even wished they could get together again. If there was any silver lining to it, there was the fact that it pushed her towards all of her favorite parts of the internet. Without shitty 6th grade Daniel, there would be no Tumblr Kat. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He’s not bad”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She had no idea how he was these days. She didn’t even know if Daniel was into guys. Could he be? He could. Sexuality was a spectrum. Best not to say for sure either way until she was certain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Cool cool” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He passed it over, waited until Kat read it, and then slid it back to himself for safe keeping.</p>
<p>She was astounded at how quickly the notes quickly turned into texts, and texts turned into hangouts IRL, far away from where they met. They’d gotten drunk on the Ferris Wheel together, with Ethan puking on their fourth go. He’d begun to consume more and more of her time, much to the other girls’ confusion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So your not fucking him?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh my God, Maddy, no!” The whole lunch table had eyes on her, similar thoughts in their minds. “He’s not straight, and he’s just a friend.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s just like, you’ve been spending <em>so</em> much time with him lately,” Maddy replied. She was enjoying pressing the subject, her hair twirling a physical sign.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“A<em> lot</em> of time,” BB added.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t know what you guys want me to say. He’s a nice guy! Gay, straight, or whatever, guys like that are so rare these days.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah…..” all the other girls said in unison. Men were a species all their own.</p>
<p><br/>The thing about Ethan was that he was low-maintenance. There wasn’t any drama. He even managed to get some of her jokes. The gang, while usually great, were becoming much the opposite. Jules, Cassie, and Maddy had a new boy (or in Jules’s case, Rue) problem every other day, and BB was practically an anthropomorphic version of TMZ. </p>
<p>Another plus was how supportive he was. He was one of the few people to support her metamorphosis from flower shirt caterpillar to choker obsessed, cherry chapstick toting butterfly. She could still remember his reaction.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You look great, Kat. Not that you didn’t look good before, but...”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was nice to hear, unlike all of the bitching and moaning given from Maddy and BB. Cassie and Lexi expressed concern, which was kind of terrible in it’s own way. Friends are supposed to have your back right? She didn’t know anymore. But Ethan was…..different. He was kind of perfect.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It wasn’t that hard to do. Considering, y’know, he dresses in normal clothes.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yup,” she said, sipping out of her red solo. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And your?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m Thana from <em>Ms. 45</em>.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wow,” he said, chuckling. What’s that?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s a movie about this mute seamstress who gets brutally raped at gunpoint, who then puts on a costume, goes to a halloween party, and shoots everybody.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That’s…..cool.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So this is what you meant by ‘showing me up’?” she said, waving her fingers into hand quotes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, I thought you were just gonna be a slutty nun. I don’t judge, but,” he went in for another sip, drinking halfway to the bottom. “I didn’t think I was gonna have to try that hard. At first I was just gonna put on some fangs and fake blood and like, call it a day.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I like this though. It’s cute.” she let out a tiny smile, grabbing onto the adorable collar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thanks. I tried fixing my hair like his,” he started fidgeting with anything that wasn’t perfectly slicked back. “It didn’t really work out.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s not that big of a deal.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“True. Wanna sit on the couch?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, that sounds good.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The quintessential sofa held several functions at a party in the high-school to college age range. As they found themselves on the alcohol stained cushions, Kat pictured them like an impromptu lesson.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So if you're going to sit down, you're doing one of three things. Those include: catching your breath, making out, or even trying to make actual conversation. You might go from one to another, but you're always gonna stay within the range of these three.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The two had subconsciously agreed on the third option tonight, but they saw the other options all around them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You think I could get like that with Daniel?” Ethan gestured to the couple on the edge near the window, gripping each other as wild animals do in heat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, let’s see. Have you ever, like, done anything before?”<br/><br/></p>
<p>“What do you mean?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Like sex stuff. Kissing, fucking. Sucking a dick? Just about anything in that general area.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uhh, not really.” His eyes darted around, trying to disguise his embarrassment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kat heard whispers of Jules’s “catch a dick” comment fly through her head. She almost pitied him, being in nearly the same position at the beginning of the year. Back then they might have shared a lack of experience, but not now. She’d become a seasoned pro. “Why do you like him, anyways?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t know. You ever just see somebody and you’re like, ‘that’s somebody I wanna hang with’?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She thought to herself about the boy in front of her for a moment, before nodding. “Yeah, I can get that.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>‘Some people are just cool. He’s got that vibe, like you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh?” Her cheeks (much to her dismay) turned pink, although the flashing lights concealed such physical changes. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ethan spotted Daniel, or rather, Daniel dressed as Ted Bundy, dip through the hallway near them. “Just kinda mysterious.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If there was ever a time to tell him, about Daniel, and about how she felt about the two of them, this was the time. It felt practically God-given. “Ethan, I’ve been wanting to let you know that---that Daniel and I used to date. It was just a thing when we were kids, it wasn’t anything crazy.” Her voice crackled, nearly choking on itself. “And I---wish you the best of luck. I hope that came out right, cuz like, I think <em>you're</em> pretty cool.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shit, Kat. Thanks.” The boy got up and slicked his hair back. His face was focused, a contortion Kat had never seen before. “I think I’m gonna make my move. You good?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, <em>yeah</em>!” She flipped her wrist. “Don’t worry about me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright. Here goes.” Within a second he was gone, lost to the crowd.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kat sipped the equivalent of a shot. “Fuck.”</p>
<p> </p>
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